Main menu

Post navigation

Cherish your Family (Given or Chosen)

I’m sad and exhausted today for two entirely different reasons. Exhausted because I loaded and stacked about 500 square bales last night and sad because I heard some devastating (and frightening) news this morning. A very close friend of the Farmer’s Aunt’s who was instrumental in their beautiful summer wedding passed away this morning after having a massive heart attack a few days ago. She was a wonderful woman who was taken much too soon; mega-scary.

On that special day everything with her appeared to be fine. Less than two months later she has passed so suddenly and is now an angel looking down on her loved ones. That absolutely terrifies me. Your time on earth can be cut short at a moments notice and sometimes there’s nothing you can do about it.

It’s National Family Week this week so I wanted to just chat a little bit about the importance of family since it’s something I cherish. To me, your family aren’t just the people you were born into knowing, they are also the people you have chosen to let into your lives. I was born into a small family so gatherings while growing up were much more quiet and reserved than the Farmer’s gatherings, he has a mother of a family. It took some getting used to but almost 12 years later I still love the quietness of my family but I also really enjoy having large gatherings.

When I met and married the Farmer, I also married his family and he married mine. That’s something that anyone who’s planning on getting married should consider. If you marry someone, you are also marrying their family and if you don’t like or get along with them, it can cause strife in your relationship. We are both very lucky to have loving and accepting families and we live 2 miles from each of our parents so obviously, our families are of the utmost importance to us both.

By no means am I saying our families are perfect. Like all given families, we have our differences. You can’t get along with everyone (especially those you are forced into knowing via birth) so there will be disagreements but life is too short for disagreements. I’m not telling you to right all the wrongs that have happened along the way but if you love someone and you want them in your life, make it happen. If it’s someone you can live without then leave it be. The key to a happy life is nothing more than happiness and the people you spend the majority of your time with will play a big part in your happiness.

Like my given family, my chosen family are the ones I have selected to include in my life and if I’m lucky they’ve also selected me to be in theirs. I cherish these relationships because these are the people that I almost appreciate more since it’s taken me years to find or reconnect with them. They are absolutely worthy of being called family and that’s what they are to me.

So for all the help last night, I want to thank our family, given and chosen. Without the help of everyone that was in the field last night, our bales would still be sitting there because there’s only so much one person can do alone. My forearms are raw and scraped today, my hands are aching and my back is sore but I am grateful for the family that was there helping us last night; I know I could not have done much more without all of you. Thank you for picking me up and carrying me when I could not do it alone – the main reason God gave us family to begin with.

On this weekend before we all gather with our loved ones, make sure you remember what Thanksgiving is all about – giving thanks (it’s not just about eating pumpkin pie until your pants are going to burst, although that’s amazing too). Gather with the ones you love and call the ones you can’t, hug and kiss those you cherish and tell them how much they mean to you because you never know what tomorrow may bring.

Meet The Farmer’s Wife

I’m part of the “SheKnows: Experts Among Us” Network!

SheKnows is a community that inspires and empowers women to pursue their passions. Quality content and conversation has earned over 79 million SheKnows readers per month. Click the logo above to visit the SheKnows Canada website and read other expert content like mine!

Like what you see? Follow me!

Enter your email address to follow my blog and receive notifications of new posts by email!

Blogs I Follow

Farmer’s Orders

I share because it makes me happy so feel free to use any of my images as long as they are credited and accompanied by a link back to myhusbandthefarmer. The photos should remain in their original state and are copyright protected. If you fail to link back and credit my site as a source, it can constitute a copyright violation and I'll have to send the Farmer after you!